The Musicians Union in the UK have a number of initiatives ongoing that are there to help you achieve a fairer deal for your performance. In this podcast we run through all of these in detail as well as covering some key factors involved in how to value yourself as a performer.

If the word ‘sales’ fills you with dread and fear then this is the post for you. That feeling of nervousness, sweaty palms and dry mouth is enough to make you never pick up the phone again. It doesn’t have to be that way though. In this post I’m going to walk you through a much softer and gentler approach to selling your cover band over the phone or face to face.

If you’re standing on a soap box and yelling about how great your band is, chances are you’re losing bookings. Prospects aren’t interested in your opinion of your band. They want you to show them clear evidence that real people paid their hard earn cash to have you perform for them at their event. The most effective way of communicating this is through testimonials. The most powerful of all testimonials are video ones. In this post I take you step by step through a system I call the ‘Stage Right Technique’. It’s a no cost, fast way of producing multiple video tesimonials that’ll help you secure more gigs for your band and, done well, at higher fees. Look out for the bonus material in this post.

Running your own small business places massive strains on the time you have available for other things in your life. That doesn’t faze Brad Wills. He’s successfully balancing running a small business with family life commitments while also finding the time to work on marketing his cover band. Listen to this episode to find out how.

For the last 10 years Dominic Halpin has earned a living as a full time musician successfully running a cover band and releasing his own original material independently. His enthusiasm for both areas of his career is infectious. If you’re looking to carve a similar path to your career then this episode is essential listening

Taking your cover band to the next level of success is a challenge. It’s easy to get comfortable in the status quo or just think that ‘we’re a 10 gigs a year cover band’ and not really believe or have the confidence to increase that number significantly. But there are ways, many in fact. It all starts by thinking bigger. Here’s how…

Graeme Nash of cover ‘Daft’ is one of those brave characters that took the decision to ‘go pro’. He’s successfully gone from being a full time sales professional on a great salary to earning all his income from his band. He now supports a family of four and is going from strength to strength. In this episode we get to grips with how he managed to do this and what obstacles he faced along the way.

Over the last few years websites that cut out the middle man ie agents have become increasingly popular. They allow you to showcase your band directly to thousands more potential clients than your website could ever achieve. I speak with Neville Thurlbeck of TalentGB.com and get under the skin of how we can best use these sites to our advantage. He shares some great tips and tricks.

Natasha manages a very unique act called Urban Soul Orchestra. Originally from New Zealand she arrived in the UK in the late 2000s and had no experience of the UK private and corporate events market. In the last 5 years she’s been the driving force behind booking 100 plus events a year primarily in the high end of the market. Listen to podcast to see how she’s been able to achieve this success.

Rehearsed and ready to gig – check. You’ve got a great promo video – check. Websites looking good – check. You’re getting enquiries and emailing back quotes – check. So why are so few couples getting back to you? There’s a few good and actually quite obvious reasons. Find out what they are and how you can start getting them to reply to you…